Locomotive tender



N. M. LOWER.

LOCOMOTIVE TENDER. APPLICATION FILED AUG.30, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l- Patente'd Jan. 31, 1922.

IIIIIII L J? I l I rIILI lll I I IIII IIIIII N. M. LOWER.

LOCOMOTIVE TENDER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.30, 1917.

1,404,983, Patented Jan. 31,1922.

' 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

R my 'ji mrem V l I r 3;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NATHAN M. LOWER, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, .ASSIGLTOR T0 LOCOMOTIV E STOKER COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF EENNSYLVANIA.

LOCOMOTIVE TENDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jar1.31, 1922.

T 0 all w ham it may concern.

Be it known that I, NATHAN M. LowER, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Pittsburgh, county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Locomotive Tenders, of which the following is a specification and which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

The invention relates to improvements in locomotive tenders; its object being to provide improved means for advancing fuel therein. More specifically, the invention relates to that type of tenders in which one or more pusher heads are mounted to reciprocate over the fuel-supporting floor, being operated by a motor mounted upon or above the slope sheet of the fuel bin.

In devices of this kind it has been found that the forward pusher head has a tendency to ride up in the mass offuel, instead'of following the surface of the floor; and-the fuel resting upon the slope sheet and the inclined side wall of the fuel bin adjacent thereto tends to become impacted and formed into a supporting arch which must be broken before the fuel will descend. The control of the fluid motor for actuating the fueladvancing mechanism, when located as stated, has heretofore been accomplished by mechanical means operated from the forward end of the tender.

The present invention consists in means for preventing the upward movement of the pusher head in the mass of fuel; of breaking up the condensed mass of fuel upon the slope sheet; and for controlling the motor.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is hereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1- is a detail vertical longitudinal.

section of the tender;

Figs. 2 and 3 are detail sectional views (13111 the lines 2--2 and 33, respectively, of

Fig. 4 is a detail longitudinal section through 'the motor and its distributing valve;

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an end view of the motor cylinder, the distributing valve mounted thereon being shown in longitudinal section; and

Fig. 7 is a detail section on the line 77 of Fig. 6.

The tender is shown as having the usual fuel bin 10, and a water tank 11 located back of and below the same. The floor of the fuel bin s shown at 12, its slope sheet at 13, ts s1dej,walls at 1 1, 15,-the latter being inclined inwardly, at least in their lower portions. Alt 16 is shown a wear or contour plate covering the floor 12 and slope sheet 13, being curved over the meeting ends of these two parts to form a. surface over which the pusher heads for advancing fuel may easily travel.

The pusher heads are shown as two in number and designated, respectively, by the numerals 17 18, and as being articulated together by means of a connecting rod or pitman 19. The head 17 reciprocates over the slope sheet, and the head 18 principally over the floor 12. The pusher head 17 is connected by means of a rod 20 with the piston rod of a reciprocating motor 21 locatedat the upper end of the slope sheet 13, or an extension thereof, and having its axis parallel to such sheet.

A plurality of rails 22, 23, are arranged longitudinally of the fuel bin, and are secured to the contour plate 16. These rails are substantially Z-shaped in cross section, one flange resting upon the contour plate and being preferably riveted thereto, the

.web portion rising vertically. Preferably these rails are formed of angle bars, the upper flange of the Z element being thicker and being a separate bar riveted to the upstanding web. The heads 17, 18, are apertured in their inner faces to receive the up-.

per or head portions of. the rails 22, 23, as shown at 24:, 25, such apertures having a restricted throat of sufiicient width to receive the web portion of the rail but not to permit the passage therethrough of the head portion. The two rails 22, 23, therefore, constitute a track upon which the pusher heads are guided and by which they are restrained from movement away from the contour plate. 7

Extension blocks 26, 27, are secured one to each end of the pusher head 17, their outer ends reaching approximately to the mar ins of the contour plate. The upper sur ace of each of these blocks slopes forwardly and backwardly, their side margins being figuration permitting them to move under the mass of fuel without a pushing action but with an elevating or disturbing effect. They therefore break up any massing or arching of the fuel and permit it to fall freely down the slope sheet as the portion in advance thereof is carried forward by the pusher heads.

The motor 21 is driven by fluid, preferably steam. As shown, steam is led to the motor through a pipe 28, which may be connected with the boiler of the locomotive and is exhausted therefrom through a pipe 29. The casing 30 of the distributing valve 1s secured to the motor head. The valve 31 takes the form of a trunk piston having an nular channels 32, 33, 34, for cooperating with the various steam andexhaust ports in the casing, and carries at one end a piston head 35 of greater diameter'than the body of the valve, this piston head being provided with a restricted by-pass 36.

The steam plpe 28 is connected with ports' 37, 38, located, respectively, at opposite ends of the valve casing, and the exhaust pipe 29 leads from a port 39 substantially midway between the ends of the casing. Steam ports 40, 41, located, respectively, adjacent the ports 37 38, lead to the opposite ends of the cylinder of the motor, and exhaust ports 42, 43, located one upon each side of the port '39, communicate with the opposite ends of the cylinder.

When the motor is in use the steam pipe 28 will be constantly open, and consequently steam pressure will be uninterruptedly applied to the rearward or valve-facing side of thepiston 35, the pressure, however, being equalized on both sides of the piston by reason of the presence of the by-pass 36. A spring 44, reacting between the front or outer face of the piston 35 and the end of the valve casing, urges the piston, and with it the valve, to the position shown in the drawings, in which the steam port 40 leading to the upper end of the motor cylinder is open and the exhaust port 43 leading from the lower end of the cylinder is in communication with the exhaust port 39, connecting with the exhaust pipe 29. A relief pipe 45 leads from the valve casing 30, communicating therewith at the outside of the piston 35 and extending to the forward end of the tender, where it is provided with a relief valve 46 under control of the operator, and

' a vent opening 47.

By the valve arrangement 'described'th'e motor piston is normallyheld at the lower end of the cylinder, and, consequently, the

is again equalized, and the spring 44 shifts the valve to the position shown in the drawings, causing an outstroke of the motor and the advance of the fuel. The motor is, therefore, of the single stroke type, each complete stroke depending upon the opening and closing of the relief valve.

While there is herein disclosed a form of construction which is now preferred, various changes of detail may be made in the device without departing from the scope of the invention.

- I claim as my invention- 1. In combination, a locomotive tender having a fuel-supporting plate, a pusher reciprocable over the plate and having laterally extending blocks adapted to out under the fuel.

2. In combination, a locomotive tender having a fuel-supporting plate, a pusher reciprocable over the plate and having laterally extending blocks adapted to out under the fuel, such blocks having their upper surfaces inclined forwardly and backwardly.

having a fuel bin with a slope sheet, a reciprocable pusher in the fuel bin, a reciprocating fluid motor mounted at the upper end of the slope sheet for driving the pusher and having its axis parallel with such sheet, a

distributing valve mounted on the head of the motor, a piston attached to the valve and having a by-pass and being under constant pressure, an expansive spring acting on one face of the piston, and a manually controlled relief valve for exhausting the chamber in which thes ring is enclosed.

. NAT AN M. LOWER. 

